What I Think About "Gracefully Grasyon"

The book I have been reading is Gracefully Grayson by Ami Polonsky. This book is about a boy named Grayson. He believes he is a girl on the inside, born into the wrong gender's body. Despite the risks, (of facing rejection, ridicule, or worse) Grayson's true self wants to break free. He also meets a new girl, and they become close friends. An example of this is on page 27, it says,"I remember pink plastic bowls of macaroni and cheese, and juice boxes. My body feels strange, like it's someone else's, and I shudder, because I could be making a huge mistake." This shows how he believes he doesn't belong in his male body, but should belong in a female body. This book is really interesting to read, and I'm glad I chose to read it. I like how this book is a topic that I've never read about before, and I know many people in the world may relate to this situation. The genre of this book is realistic fiction and teen fiction. I tend to lean towards these kinds of genres because I feel as if I could relate more to the book, since the main character is usually aimed towards someone my age. I would recommend this book, and I can't wait to read more of it! 

The Gift of the Magi

Almost everyone loves gift. We love getting them, we love giving them. A gift that I would love is a cat. I love cats, but my family, not so much. My sisters also like cats, but my parents aren't very fond of cats.  A special gift that I have given in the past was to my dad. I made him a mug with a quote on it. He really liked it and he drinks out of it almost every day. I love giving gifts that are homemade because I feel they have my meaning to them, and they are fun to make as well. A gift I wish I could buy my parents would be a trip to Hawaii or a place that seems warm and tropical. I obviously don't have the money for that, but I wish I did. They deserve the best because they do so much for my sisters and I, and they work very hard. 

Favorite Quote

My favorite quote is by Dr. Seuss, and it says, "Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter, and those who matter don't mind." This is my favorite quote because it spreads a positive message. This quote is showing that you should be yourself and don't care about what others say. When it says, "Those who mind don't matter, and those who matter don't mind.", it is saying that those who care about what you do don't matter in your life, and those who don't care about what you do matter in life. This quote relates to me because it encourages me to be who I truly am, even if some might find it weird. 

Crazy

The book I read was Crazy by Han Nolan. This book is now one of my favorite books for sure! This book is about a teen named Jason. His father has gone crazy, and his mother has died since he was young. He has these voices in his head that talk to him and sometimes give him advice. Some of them are FBG (fat bald guy) with a mustache who just makes random comments, sexy lady (tells him things about himself to boost up his self esteem), crazy glue tells him that he's crazy and crazy glue makes rando comments as well, aunt bee who is like the aunt who always tells you right and wrong, and laugh track which just laughs. 

In his school, he is mouse. Mouse is a short nick name for anonymous, and he receives letters from people who want advice. No one knows who mouse is, and he wants too keep it private. He writes a letter to himself, but sends it to his friends to reveal himself. In the letter, some of it says, "I can't see them and I can't hear them; they're just thoughts in my head. But they're very real to me. I have a whole cast of characters in my head. The problem is, I like having them around. They give me good advice, most of the time, and they're kind of addictive." He also mentions that he liked having them because back when he didn't have any friends, they were the only people he talked to. Overall, this was a very great book and I would recommend it to many people. 

The Plot In Crazy

The book I have been reading is named Crazy by Han Nolan. This book is one of my favorite books now, and I enjoy reading this book. In the book, the main character is named Jason. His father is going crazy, and his mother is dead. He begins going to a social worker in his school, and makes some friends. They go through a lot together. Jason lives alone with his father, and his father became very ill. Jason didn't want to tell anyone because he was afraid someone would take his father away from him, and Jason's father was all he had. But, his friends tell the teacher because they care about him. Jason has voices that are in his head, and he believes he's following his father's footstep in becoming crazy. Something I enjoy about this book is that it has many conflicts in the story, it has statements that stand out to me, and there are many metaphors in this book. I enjoy reading metaphors because they create an image in my head and help me understand the problem more. On page 266, it says, "Her words stung me. Am I really a coward?" This is a metaphor, because her words didn't literally sting him, but he is saying that her words made him think about what he did. 

Quarter 2 Goals

This quarter, I want to participate more in class. I want to do this because I would rarely participate in class last quarter, so I would like to change this. Participating would show my understanding on a topic and to help share ideas. 

Something else I would like to work on is to read more. I would like to work on this because last quarter, I did not read as much as I would like to. This quarter, my goal is to read the amount I should be reading, which is around 25 pages a day. 

Another thing that I would like to focus on is to read different genres of books. I tend to go for realistic fiction, but I want to start reading other genres as well. I like realistic fiction because it's usually characters that are around my age, and I like to relate to books. 

Conflicts In Savvy

In the book Savvy, there are few conflicts. In chapter 5, she turns thirteen. When you turn thirteen, you are supposed to receive a savvy. She is really looking forward to turning thirteen. On page 35, it says, "I woke up early on that Saturday morning of my thirteenth birthday and lay still and silent for a long, long while, just waiting. Nothing felt too different yet." This was a conflict because she was expecting to get it right when she got out of bed and notice something. Then, on page 38, it says, "but why had that turtle picked that peculiar, persnickety moment to wake up-thee evermore dawn on the morning of my most important birthday, with me in my nightgown, balancing frosted cereal on my knee? Watching my turtle, I tapped on the glass. Thinking about the turtle and remembering the unusual way Gypsy had woken up as I'd stepped out of bed, a shaky and suspicious feeling started to gnaw down deep in my bones, a feeling that's tuck with me the rest of the morning and continued to grow like a smoke from a grassfire." This shows when she believes that she found her savvy. She believes that she could wake people up when she comes across them. She also woke up her sister while sleeping, so she thinks it's true. 

Savvy- Book Blog

I am reading the book Savvy , which is written by Ingrid Law. From what I've read, I believe this book is about a girl who is named Mississippi, but her family calls her Mibs. She is going to turn thirteen, and you are supposed to gain powers. A question that I had when I first saw the book was, "What does savvy mean? " I looked it up in the dictionary and savvy is practical knowledge or common sense. I did not know what this had to do with the book. But as I continued to read, I realized that the book was about her finding her savvy. Throughout the book, I have also made a few connections. The first one was on page 6, and it says, "girls only get quiet, polite savvies- sugar and spice and everything humdrum savvies. It's boys who get the earthshaking kinds of savvies." I has scowled at my brother and stuck out my tongue. Rocket and I both new that there were plenty of girls climbing round our family tree that had strong and sturdy savvies." This is a connection because I have heard in the past that girls aren't as good as boys, but I believe that we are each individually good and bad at some things. Another connection that I made was on page 7, and it says, "I wasn't the youngest or the smallest in my family." I made a connection with this because I am also not the youngest from my family. Another connection that I made was on page 10, and it says," Grandpa Bomba's tone was soft and reassuring." This made made me think about how my grandparents are always comforting to their grandchildren, and try to find the good in everything. 

The Outsiders: Compare and Contrast

In the movie The Outsiders, I found some similarities and differences to the book. A similarity that I found was when they were going to the rumble, and they began doing tricks. I remember reading this part in the book. Another thing that was similar was when the church is on fire, and everyone begins to yell and panic. I pictured this very similarly to the book. A difference that I noticed was Dally's hair. In the book, his hair is described as hair almost as white as blond. But, in the movie, Dally's hair is a dark brown, not blond. Also, I did not picture the church to look the way it did in the movie. I pictured it to look very tall and empty, but in the movie, there was lots of animals and the church didn't seem to be as tall as I had pictured it to be. Those were some similarities and differences that I recognized from the movie to the book. 

My Heritage

There are many things about my heritage that are special. Something that I think is special is the food. There's a lot of different foods, such as tacos, tamales, pozole, and much more. I think this is special because in my family, we eat these kinds of foods when we get together, and these foods remind me of my family. Something else about my heritage is the clothing. There are many traditional ways that people dress up in, such as colorful dresses and flowers in your hair. I find this very unique because it is different from the U.S., and other countries as well. Something else that is special is the festivals. A special celebration is Cinco De Mayo, which is the date the Mexicans celebrate and respect the Mexican army's victory over French forces. This is special because there are festivals here in our state as well and it's a fun time for my family. 

The Outsiders

The outsiders is a a good book in my opinion because it has a lot of interesting parts to the story. It always leaves me wondering what's going to happen next and I want to keep reading to find out more. I like the characters in the book as well. The characters make the book a lot more interesting. I think that Ponyboy and Johnny are very brave for running away because they are risking getting caught and getting in a lot of trouble. 

Theme of The Outsiders

I think the theme of this book is that you don't have to live by the stereotypes that people give you. I think this is the theme of the book because on page 33, it says, "all Socs aren't like that. " she said. "You have to believe me, Ponyboy. Not all us are like that. " This is showing how people think that just because you're given a name, you have to live up to those standards. Another part in the book that shows this is in page 36, and it says,"Socs were always behind a wall of aloofness, careful not to let their real selves show through. " This is showing how they are labeling them in one category, but not everyone is the same.